Familial bonds: part two

by Darling Dearest


Loving parents

Rainbow Dash slowly approached the small, welcoming home on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. She had been hesitant going anywhere near it in the past, but had since been able to accept it into her life again… With the help of a certain orange filly. She landed next to the oak door and stood in awe for a moment before knocking on it. She was finally back at her childhood home. Where she had made so many wonderful memories. It seemed significantly smaller than she had remembered, yet she still couldn’t help but feel an incredible rush of nostalgia jolting through her body, making her fur stand on end. It had been such a long time since she had visited her parents, her own stubborn pride making her act like a child and interpret their unconditional love and support as embarrassing. This thought sent a small tear trailing down Rainbow’s face, knowing that the orange filly she loved and cared for so deeply, who deserved nothing less than what she herself had growing up, may have had a terrible home life with parents who possibly didn’t love her at all! Whereas she had been spoon fed support all her life. This wasn’t okay.

Rainbow took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She was quickly greeted by a small mare with a similar cyan colour scheme to her own fur, as well as a short mane and tail of light red, with a very light orange stripe going down the middle. Windy Whistles, her own mother. An adorable smile immediately entered Windy’s face as she saw who had come to visit her, quickly reaching to hug her daughter.

“Rainbow dearie! How are you? It is so nice to see you again!”

“Hey mom, nice to see ya too. Um… There was somethin’ I was hoping I could talk to you and dad about. Are you guys busy?

“Oh of course not Dashy. We are NEVER too busy for you! Come on in, I’ll get your father, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you again to.

Windy welcomed Rainbow into the home, before facing the stairs and calling her husband.

“Honey! Get down here. Guess who’s come to VISIT us.” Windy shouted with an exited tone in her voice.

A larger stallion with darker blue fur and a rainbow mane, done into a mohawk, and a short rainbow tail came quickly down the stairs. Bow hothoof, Rainbow’s father. A delightful expression entered his face as he saw his daughter, quickly rushing to her and picking her up in his forelegs, as if she were a filly, and hugged her tightly.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash it is SO good to see you again, now how is the world’s greatest little Wonderbolt!”

“I’m good dad, but could you please put me down, I’m not a foal.”

Complying, Bow put Rainbow down, tears welling in his eyes.

“Oh, sorry, I forget sometimes. You’re all grown up, achieving everything you always wanted, but to me, you’ll always be my little Dashy.”

“It’s okay dad, I know I don’t show it sometimes, but I love you, an’ I always will.”

The two engaged in a genuine hug. Rainbow giving in to the pride her parents felt for her, reminding her of her own feelings toward Scootaloo.

“Oh, isn’t that just sweet!” Windy said, taking a picture of the adorable moment, immortalising it.

 Though Rainbow quickly freed herself from her father’s embrace, knowing she was there for a reason.

“Ha, okay then mom. But seriously I’ve been having some weird thoughts lately, an’ I couldn’t think of any better ponies to talk to about them than you guys. That an’ I just wanted to see you again.”

Rainbow’s cheeks began to blush bright red, not quite having lost her tendency to occasionally find her own emotions embarrassing. Windy ruffled Rainbow’s mane, levitating slightly to reach, and gave her a welcoming expression.

“Ah Rainbow, you’re always welcome here. Now come on, let’s go to the kitchen and talk things out. I’d hate for the Equestria’s greatest Wonderbolt to conceal her feeling’s.”

The three ponies all took a set around the large family table in the home’s kitchen. Rainbow was held back by her thoughts. Was she doing the right thing by going to her parents? Was it okay to make this their burden to? Though she quickly brushed those thoughts aside, knowing that they would become more worried if she didn’t tell them about her plight.

“Okay, mom, dad… You remember Scootaloo right?”

“Now how could we forget that little sweetie pie, she is just the cutest little thing! Oh Rainbow, you’ve done such a good job mentoring her. Yeah, who’s the best older sister in all of Equestria?”

“Mom!”

“Sorry Dashy.”

“Good! But yeah, she really is the most awesome little sister anypony could ask for... I, I love her. So, I can’ just ignore this!”

“Oh? what’s happened Rainbow?”

“Well, ya see dad. I realised the other day that I’ve never seen Scoots with her real parents, like ever! Celestia, I think it was about two weeks ago now when I had to stop her goin’ down this huge mountain on her scooter. Don’t ya think that her parents should ‘a said no to that? I can’t help but feel like her folks, whoever they are, aren’t givin’ her the love and support that she deserves… That you gave me. So, I’ve been tryin ’a find out more about her home life ever since, but I’m getting nowhere. Scootaloo just won’t let up and tell me what she’s goin’ through! You guys were always good at making me talk as a filly, even when I REALLY didn’t want to, so what should I do? “

“Dashy, I think it’s great that you care so much about this filly. But it sounds to me like you’ve just being a little overprotective, and exaggerating things. But don’t worry, its normal. Take it from us, it can be real easy sometimes to go overboard with your love of a filly, they’re just so small, and you begin to interpret every little thing they do as dangerous. But you’ve just gotta learn how to control your emotions, learn to see things rationally instead of how your nurturing side wants to see it. Or else you’ll learn the hard way when she’s older... So, if you want, we can show you how to control your feelings, and to…

Bow looked as if he had a much longer speech planned, but felt the soft pressure of Rainbow’s hoof on his lips before he could continue.

“I… I know dad, as much as I hate to admit it, and as cool as I like to act, I know I can get overprotective of Scootaloo sometimes. I try to hide it from her the best I can, but sometimes I just get this lust to keep her safe, she just looks so tiny an’ I… Uh! But I’ve come to turns with that and I’ve been tryin’ to control my emotions better.”

“Ah, that’s adorable, aren’t you just the most mature, grown up pony. I’m so proud of you!”

“Uh, thanks mom, that actually means a lot. But please believe me when I tell you that this wasn’t me treating Scoots like a foal. When I say that this mountain was huge, I mean it was absolutely ginormous! Celestia, it was almost reaching the clouds, she could’ve gotten seriously hurt! I had to step in. But shouldn’t any reasonable parent stop their foal from doing somethin’ THAT dangerous! But her folks didn’t. An’ ever since then, Scootaloo’s been getting’ all defensive whenever I even mention her parents. I mean I could go see ‘em myself, but I wanna be able to talk about this stuff with Scootaloo. So, I’m gonna need your advice, ‘cause she’s just not talkin’.”

Tears were noticeably welling in Bow’s eyes again.

“Wow, my little Dashy really is all grown up. The desire you have for this filly’s safety, your natural caring instinct. My, I haven’t seen such unconditional love since the day you were born, and became the best thing in our lives. So… So, you need us hu, well we’re happy to help Rainbow.”

“Dad… Thank you.”

Rainbow flew into her father’s forelegs, welcoming a passionate hug. Bow, knew that her precious daughter had grown up, but couldn’t resist closing his eyes and imagining his little Dashy snuggled in his forelegs one final time. Though Rainbow backed away from him, as her mother continued the conversation.

“So, then Rainbow, you wanna be able to talk to Scootaloo about what she’s going through at home, whether or not her parents are giving her the love she needs. That’s great, and we’re proud of you for taking a stance like this. But it’s understandable that she wouldn’t want to talk, you’re her idol, she doesn’t wanna seem uncool in front of you. Though, you are right here, if she’s not getting what she needs at home then we simply have to get her to talk about it. Keeping those feeling’s hidden isn’t healthy, and as a filly she needs good support. We need to make sure she’s getting it. We can’t ignore this either Dashy, so your father’s right, we’re happy to help, ‘cause we love Scootaloo too, she’s your sister and thus is our family. An’ as family we’re gonna protect her. Are you thinking what I’m thinking Bow?”

A large grin entered Bow’s face, as he realised what his wife was implying.

“Ha, I guess I am Windy, it looks like we have a trip to make.”

“Guess again if you think we’re gonna let you do this alone young filly. We know you love Scootaloo, and I know better than anypony that you could do this alone. But we love her to, and we might just be able to get her to talk a little quicker. So, we’re COMMIN’ to Ponyville!”

“You don’t have to do this mom and dad, I just need some advice in talking to foals so that I can learn about Scootaloo’s home life, an’ how I can help her out more.”

“It’s too late for that now Dashy, your mother and I love that young filly just like you do. So, we just can’t bear the thought that she’s not getting enough love from her own parents. Now, we’re gonna go down to Ponyville, book a hotel room, and show that filly that she is welcomed and safe with us. So maybe, just maybe, she’ll tell us what she’s going through and we can plan a course of action.”

“Fine! But if you are gonna come down… At least come stay with me, I got plenty of room.”

“Oh, thank you Rainbow. So, you’re accepting our help then?”

“I… I guess I am dad, I’m getting nowhere on my own, and if Scootaloo really isn’t getting loved like she deserves, I HAVE to know! So, I just gotta be able to push my pride aside for once and accept some help from two ponies who know this whole nurturing thing way better than I do.”

“Oh Rainbow, I do love how mature you’ve become, we’re both so proud of you.”

“Thanks mom.”

The three engaged in a blissful group hug, feeling more determined than ever to make sure that their youngest, honorary family member was safe and loved by her birth family.

Sometime past, as Rainbow sat quietly in their Livingroom, reading a few chapters of the latest Daring Doo novel, whilst her parents packed their bare essentials. The three then set off for Rainbow’s cloud home, it dwarfed, Windy and Bow’s home, making the two drop their mouths in awe of its size. They then quickly dropped off their things before heading off to the cutie mark crusaders club house, eagerly anticipating their time with the little filly.